Method of making a bouffante garment



Nov. 3, 1964 D. J. LOBEL METHOD OF MAKING A BOUFFANTE GARMENT Filed.NOV. 6, 1961 INVEN TOR. flay/#1105 6/ W W A T70/iA/5/5 United StatesPatent 3,154,792 Marrron or Martino A not W. ANTE GARMENT David 1.Label, 4 Tulip St., Cedarhurst, Ni Filed Nov. 6, 1961, Ser. No. 156,5641 (Ilaim. (Cl. 2-243} This invention relates to a bouliante garment andto a method of making the garment.

In accordance with the dictates of style, it is quite desirable toprovide for toddlers, and even for older children or grown-ups variousboulfante garments such as slips in order to hold the sk rt of atoddlers, childs or womans dress in an outwardly flaring manner from thebody of the wearer in a sweeping effect. in the past, such bouliantegarments have required a large quantity of material to achievesufiicient bulk to hold the outer garment outwardly or have requiredhoops, stays, plastic or metal reinforcements, or the like. Thesebouifante garments have required vertical seams in the material whichusually cause there to be present at the immediate location of suchvertical seams areas where the garment fails to support the outer skirtor dress in its outward position, or the total effect desired to beachieved by the garment is somewhat impaired.

The present invention overcomes these disadvantages of the prior artbouifante garments by enabling a bouffante type garment to beconstructed wherein a relatively small amount of material is utilizedand wherein there are required no stays or reinforcements, and whereinthere is present no vertical seams so that the areas of non-support ofthe outer garment are eliminated.

It is an object of this invention to make a bouifante skirt from asingle continuous strip of material with the skirt having no verticalseam from top to bottom of the skirt, while considerably reducing thelabor heretofore necessary to produce such a garment.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a methodof making a boufiante garment which is quite simple and which allows thegarment to be made from a minimum number of parts with very littlecutting of material required.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bout"- fante garmentthat is highly attractive and novel in ap pearance and which is Shirredand adorned in a highly appealing manner.

Still further objects of the invention reside in the provision of aboulfante type garment and method of manufacture that is capable ofbeing utilized for mass production, which may employ conventionalmachines now in use in the textile industry, and which permits thegarments to be mass produced at a relatively low cost thereby permittingwide distribution and utilization of the invention.

These, together the various ancillary objects and features of theinvention which will become apparent as proceeds, are attained by thisboutfante garment and method of manufacture there, a preferredembodiment of the garment being illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, by way of example only, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bouffante slip manufactured inaccordance with the concepts of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the various fabriccomponents of the present invention prior to stitching the partstogether;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial perspective view illusrating the garmentduring a stage of manufacture thereof;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along the plane ofline 4-4 in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the continuous strip used in forming theboufiante skirt for the garment.

3,154,?92 Patented Nov. 3, 1964 With continuing reference to theaccompany drawings wherein like reference numbers designate similarparts throughout the various views, reference numeral 19 is used todesignate a garment in accordance with the concepts and manufactured bythe method of the present invention.

In accordance with the article aspects of the present invention, thegarment 10 includes a bodice 12 which may include shoulder straps 14 andwhich terminates in an edge 16 at the Waist of the garment. Secured tothe edge 16 of the bodice 12 is a skirt 18 constructed in a novel way.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, an elongated continuous strip 2i of materialof any des'red fabric is provided. This elongated strip 2i is of a stripform except that the ends 22 and 24 thereof are tapered. The end 22 issecured to the edge 16 by stitching. It is to be noted that when the end22 is stitched to the garment 16 for the first circumference of thestrip 20, there is employed an edging machine provided with adifierential shirring device or other suitable sewing machine or thelike, for eX- ample, of 1.5 to 1. That is, 1 /2 times as much of thestrip 2% is fed as is the edge 16 of the garment. This causesconsiderable shirring and stitching together of the edge of the ends 22of the strip 2% the garment bodice 12. The strip 20 is arranged in aspiral pattern widening from the top to bottom and with the edges of thespiral 2%) in abutting relationship. These edges are then secured toeach other by the edging machine provided with the differential shirringdevice with the feeding set for the strip which has not yet been securedto the garment fed in a greater amount then is the portion of the stripalready fed to the garment at a rate of 1.1 to 1. In this manner, as canbe seen in PEG. 3, successive loops 2&2, 20b, and Ztlc of the strip 2t?are secured together by stitches 28, 31), etc. in a shin-ed manner. Ifit is desired, a shirred lace may be fixed to the edge or edges of thestrip in order to provide a decorative effect.

When the bottom end of the strip 29 is reached, because it is tapered,the edging machine with diflerential shirring device is set so that allshirring is removed and the tapered end 24 is sewn at a ratio of 1 to 1to the garment.

in order to facilitate setting the edging machine so that thedifferential shirring device is operating at the correct ratio and tocheck on the operation of the edging machine, the strip 29 is providedwith notches such as 313, 32, 34, 36, 38, 49, 42, 44, 46, 48 therein. Inlieu of notches, if it is desired suitable markings may be provided. Thenotchings are found desirable due to the fact that the edging machine isof the type that trims and conceals the edge of the strip as it is beingsewn and therefore the notches are not present in the finished garment,nevertheless the notches provide not only a visual but also a physicalfeeling to the hand of the operator to indicate where the notches are.These notches mark the position of the strip and at each notch acomplete circuit of the garment should have been accomplished. Forexample, if the garment is so arranged that the first circuit inattaching the end 22 to the bodice 12 has required 39 inches, then whenthe differential shirring device of the edging machine is re-set from a1.5 to 1 ratio to a 1.1 to 1 ratio or thereabouts, the next portion ofthe strip 2% will be approximately 43 inches in length, that is 39inches times 1.1 or 42.9 inches. Likewise, in round numbers, asindicated on the strip 20 in FIG. 5, each successive strip will belonger each successive section of the strip will be longer in lengththan the preceding one in order that the substantially conical shape ofthe skirt 18 can be obtained.

In accordance with the method aspects of the invention, the method iscarried out by making the bodice 12 and then arranging the spiral in acontinuous strip with the spiral Winding from top to bottom.Contemporaneously one of the tapered ends 22 is stitched to the bodice12. Using the edging machine with the differential shirring de vice, theabutting edges of the spiral are shirred and stitched together to formthe skirt in attached relationship to the bodice. The end 24 is notShirred so as to prevent gathering at the bottom.

A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in theforegoing disclosure and in some instances some features of theinvention will be employed without a corresponding use of otherfeatures. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims beconstrued broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit and scopeof the invention herein. 7

What I claim is:

A method for'forming a bouffante garment comprising forming an elongatedlength of material free from seams and tapered at each end, marking saidlength of material at guide points for forming a spiral of desired size,orienting said length of material in a spiral of increasing diameterWith the edges of said length of material in overlapping relationshipand with said guide markings in alignment, and stitching adjacent edgesof the spiralled length of material together and contemporaneouslyshirring the material.

References (Iited the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 660,529Johnson Oct. 23, 1900 2,414,678 Waxeman Jan. 21, 1947 2,672,617 BackMar. 23, 1954

